Chapter four – Healing Slowly

"Come in!"

"Good morning," Tara said. "Feel better?"

"Now that I see you brought breakfast with you, I do."

"I noticed you haven't been eating a lot since you locked yourself up inside the gravity capsule… Must be part of the cause of your exhaustion."

"I'm not exhausted! Damn it, how many times do I have to tell you? I'm fine!"

"Stop lying to yourself. We're not kids anymore."

They ate in silence for a while.

"So you know how to grow my tail back… I thought that was impossible when it was cut off beyond the root."

"It isn't. Magicians can bring back most parts of the body, no matter what happened to them. We'll have to perform a ritual and it's probably going to hurt like hell."

"I don't care. I've been through hell while I was Frieza's slave; it can't be worse than that."

"I still wonder how you managed to survive."

"All I know is that I learned one thing back then: you cannot rely on anything or anyone. All that really matters is your own strength."

"If you believe that, I pity you, Sire. There's much more to life than just that."

"How would you know? You weren't there!"

"You're on Earth now, Prince, and Frieza's gone for good. It's about time you put the past behind you."

"You talk like you don't care about what he did."

"He killed many of my loved ones… But it's done and nobody can change that. I'd rather look forward to see what the future will bring me."

"Alright. When will you do your little magic thing to bring back my tail?"

"As soon as you're healed. So you see, it's in your best interest to get well."

"I'll make you pay for this blackmail, I promise."

"Looking forward to it, Sire."

She found Vegeta standing next to his bed the next morning.

"Going somewhere?"

"I'm getting sick and tired of staring at those four walls. I'm going for a walk and I couldn't care less about your feelings about that!"

"Relax, I'm not trying to stop you, am I? If it's okay with you, I'll join you."

He almost looked relieved – almost.

"Fine."

They walked in silence and after a while, Tara began to wonder what was going on inside Vegeta's head.

"That's none of your business," he hissed.

"Excuse me?"

"Stop trying to get into my head. It's annoying and extremely rude, to say the least."

"I'm not trying to get into your head!" she said defensively. "Not intentionally. I'm just worried about you, Sire."

"Stop worrying. I'm fine."

"That Super Saiyan thing is still bothering you, isn't it?"

"Would you shut up about that!" he snapped. "It was already highly humiliating when I found out that Kakarot, of all idiots, was the Legendary Super Saiyan. Now that I've found out that there's even a kid that has the same ability… Imagine how that makes me feel."

"I already know how you feel, you made that very clear. You forgot to mention the fact that you are even surpassed by a mere woman." She smiled happily.

"What the hell are you trying to pull off here?" he asked surprised. "Are you trying to get me mad or something?"

"I'm just teasing you. Lighten up! You're still a member of the 'we're super-powered super heroes' team."

"I'm not a team player," he growled. "As a Royal Guard, you could show me at least a little respect instead of bugging me all the time."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," she smiled. "But since you always insist that emotions are for the weak, I assumed you could not be hurt in such a way."

He stared at her in disbelief, then lost control over himself and flashed her a genuine smile. "I guess I got used to such a lack of intelligence by staying on this planet that I didn't see that one coming. But I wasn't referring to those petty feelings of weak Earthlings. I meant that you should follow the rules when interacting with a higher being like me." He smirked arrogantly.

"Is that all you can think of, Sire? Those rules do not apply to us anymore. According to the rules, I should be dead by now. Besides, we're on Earth, where you are no longer a prince, but a mere alien from outer space."

"You're asking for it, woman!" He got into a fighting stance, but she simply laughed at him.

"Two things, my Prince. One: no fighting for a week, because you haven't regained your full power yet. And two: on this planet, it's not considered very polite when you hit a lady."

"Hah! You're not a lady and never will be!" He started to walk back to Capsule Corp.

"Oh? And why is that?"

"You're a warrior, gender has nothing to do with that. Using the fact that you're a woman as an excuse not to fight is the most coward thing I've heard in my entire life!"

"I'm not a coward, Sire. You know that as well as I do. I'd be happy to spar with you, but only after your tail is revived."

"I can't wait."

"I know. Patience and self control were not considered great virtues among our people. You should learn, Vegeta. It would make you a heck of a better fighter." She took off and disappeared behind a dark rain cloud. He didn't even feel the rain coming down all of a sudden, soaking his body. He stared up to the sky and stood there like a statue. The sound of his name from her lips struck him like thunder. For a moment, they had been equals. He felt like her soul had touched his; carefully, almost scared.

"Damn that woman," he growled. "I hate it when I have to depend on someone to get my way. She'll pay for that as soon as I get my tail back."